ALDERFER’S

E.R.G. THEORY OF
WORK MOTIVATION
SOUMYAA SOMATRA

GENERAL ELECTIVE – PSYCHOLOGY

B.A. (HONS) SOCIOLOGY
210613
2021-24
Clayton Alderfer modified Maslow's need hierarchy to make it more consistent with actual data. ERG
theory is the name given to his redesigned need hierarchy. Alderfer's ERG theory of motivation, which is
based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, asserts that humans have three basic types of needs: existence,
relatedness, and growth. These requirements may be of varying priority for various people, and their
relative importance to an individual may change over time.

 Existential requirements include the need

for basic material necessities. In a nutshell,
it addresses an individual's physiological
and physical safety requirements.
 Relatedness needs include an individual's
need to retain major interpersonal
relationships (whether with family, peers, or
superiors), as well as to achieve reputation
and recognition. This category includes
Maslow's social needs and the external
component of esteem needs.
 Growth requirements include the need for self-development as well as personal growth and
advancement. This includes Maslow's self-actualization needs.

According to ERG theory, the fewer existence requirements are supplied, the more they are sought,
whereas the more existence needs are satisfied, the more relatedness needs are desired. The more both
existence and relatedness wants are satisfied, the more both existence and relatedness needs are sought;
yet, the more relatedness needs are satisfied, the more growth requirements are desired. Alderfer
distinguishes between chronic requirements that stay over time and episodic needs that are situational and
alter depending on the environment in this way.
Thus, multiple needs may be active at the same time. When the satisfaction of a higher-level need is
denied, the urge to satisfy a lower-level need grows. ERG theory does not assume the existence of a fixed
hierarchy. A person can work on growth while having unsatisfied existence or relatedness needs, or all
three need categories can be active at the same time; different needs might act as motivators at the same
time.

Alderfer also noted how individuals see their advancement in connection to each level of need. If a person
believes they are making significant progress in relatedness; they may become increasingly motivated by
growth even if their relatedness need has not been entirely met. Similarly, if a person is dissatisfied with
their progress with growth, they may leave it and strengthen their motivation regarding relatedness.
As a result, the theory urges managers to avoid assisting their team members to meet one level of need at
a time instead, be aware of the variety of human needs and assist them in progressing regarding a variety
of demands that will change over time.

CASE EXAMPLE

Internship in a non-profit organisation

In 2021, I interned for a brief period of 3 months with a non-governmental organisation (name
concealed). Since 2004, it had worked to provide individuals living in urban slums with a better quality of
life. Their operations included providing access to quality education, health care, skill development, and
economic empowerment. Their team of social workers support families in 17 slums in the Delhi
neighbourhoods of Kalkaji/Govindpuri and Tughlakabad Village.
Initially, my work experience began there as just a content writer, responsible for writing and editing
portions of their monthly newsletter. Pleased with my quality of work, the founder of the organisation
insisted to promote me to a higher, more responsible designation in the team, and consequently, take up
more work for the benefit of the organisation. Even though I was still an undergraduate student, they
entrusted me with the post of Communications Manager and Strategist in the organisation and were even
willing to give me a 40 per cent raise in my stipend.
Because a teenager could always use some extra pocket money, I gladly accepted their offer and began
working hard and diligently. However, as time passed, the situation began to spiral out of control. As
Communications Manager, I agreed to work on improving and expanding their website's reach, writing
articles for their monthly newsletters, and occasionally supervising their advertising and social media
teams. Because I was a student with limited time, I agreed to work from home and devote 2-3 days per
week to the task.
I didn't have a clear job description because I was never given an official, documented acknowledgement
of my employment in the organisation. This didn't matter much until a few weeks into the new job; I was
gradually piled on with more and more work, including tasks that were outside the scope of my command.
Because my employer admired me and my dedication, she frequently asked me to complete or lead these
tasks 'as a favour' because I am 'good at what I do.' I was asked to take on tasks in areas where I had no
prior experience, such as market management and designing merchandise such as t-shirts, posters, and
so on.
It eventually escalated to the point where I was told to lead two more entire departments, the tasks of
which included coming over to their head office for nearly 6 hours nearly 4-5 days a week, participating
in their education programme in which I would be required to teach a group of slum children, and
assisting their Centre for Women team with skill-development and legal aid. Furthermore, I was expected
to figure out the logistics of their new department, the Centre for Nonviolence, which at times promoted
ideas and beliefs in corrupt ways with which I actively disagreed. All of this began to fall on my plate
without any additional incentive or even official acknowledgement.
However, I kept mum and continued to juggle these because I believed it would look great on my resume
and would provide me with work experience that would be useful to me later in life. My academic
responsibilities grew over time, and I found myself increasingly pressed for time. Because their office was
quite far from my home, it took me nearly 3 hours just to get from one place to another; and doing this
after 8 hours of classes was taxing on my physical and mental health. Their office was in a small building
right in the middle of the slum where they worked, with no other amenities other than two or three fans in
each room and one tube light. There were no restrooms and only one window, making the office stuffy
and unventilated.
During a team meeting around the beginning of the third month, I discovered that the founder was lying
about the organization's funds. It was discovered that she would lavishly compensate employees in higher
positions while paying the bare minimum to the rest of the team, who most likely worked harder and were
better at their jobs. The founder would mismanage and hoard the proceeds from merchandise,
campaigning, donations, and newsletters for personal gain. She was discovered to intentionally hire
people with lower educational qualifications and backgrounds to form her team and to maintain zero
transparency with them about these matters. She would promote a few select people who were educated
and well-informed to higher positions and entice them with higher stipends and incentives.
Later, it was discovered that, while the rest of the office did not even have functioning fans, she had her
own air-conditioned cabin with private amenities.
Resenting the dishonesty, lack of clarity, and mismanagement, I finally decided to weigh the benefits and
drawbacks of continuing in this organisation. I decided that the strain, exertion, and pressure were not
worth the few rewards I was receiving. I cordially wrote to the founder to lay off my responsibilities and
resigned from my position in the company. Despite three months of hard work, the founder chose not to
pay me at the end of my final month out of resentment. I learnt to keep my calm and let go since my sanity
and peace were more important to me then.
 Theory Application
Now, I will be applying the theory of Alderfer to the given.

Alderfer’s existential needs refer to an individual’s desires for physiological and material well-
being. This pertains to questions such as: Are the working conditions fine? Is the workplace safe? Is it
offering enough security? There is the possibility that if these needs are not met, employees of an
organisation may be demotivated.
The organization's wo-rking conditions were dismal; hygiene and sanitation were treated as unnecessary,
and a lack of basic amenities such as electricity and ventilation made in-office work tedious. Even though
a non-profit organisation can only provide so much maintenance, the sanitary and safety measures were
limited, making it difficult for me to focus on my work and performance. Although I had not been in any
danger, the office was still in the middle of a slum, which made me feel slightly threatened as a young
woman walking to the building. The travel part was a disaster; it took me three hours to get back and forth
from home, and I had to use public transportation during peak office hours. It was a mentally and
physically exhausting task to do this after an entire day of classes. Furthermore, despite having informed
them about my conditions, I was summoned to the office to do the same work that I would have done if I
had worked from home - the founder simply wanted me to be present within the office premises.

When it comes to relatedness needs, making connections with others is highly emphasized.
Alderfer says that if employees do not enjoy healthy relationships with the employer and their co-
workers, they will not be happy. Building an environment where an employee can feel at home is
important, and this can be achieved by checking for those employees who work isolated from others.
Relatedness is therefore important to live a healthy life.
I had not had time to form friendships or acquaintances at work because my employment was brief and I
worked from home most of the time. Although some of the department members who worked under and
with me were familiar with me, I rarely had the mental space to form a relationship or get to know them.
Moreover, the founder would occasionally comment on my appearance and subtly body-shame me
because she felt she and I shared a closer bond than the other teammates. Of course, I wanted a good
reputation and recognition at work, and I was publicly credited and appreciated for my efforts. The
founder would frequently introduce me to more members of her organisation, including many seniors
from higher-level boards, and she made me and my work feel valued. Despite the minor bumps and cuts
along the way, my experience in the organisation greatly boosted my self-esteem and sense of self-worth.

Growth needs demand that an employer provides her staff with as many options for advancement
as possible. If her staff get a sense of performing the same thing over time, their motivation to work may
suffer. The first approach is to appreciate them more by giving them exciting projects to work on and
recognising their work.
As previously stated, I received more than adequate recognition and appreciation for my efforts. To her
credit, my employer was able to make me feel like a valuable and important member of the team in just a
few months. Since day one, she had demonstrated her enthusiasm and expressed her admiration for my
previous work experience. She offered me generous stipends and monthly raises after seeing the quality
of my work and was willing to sign a letter of recommendation in my name for future endeavours. Even
though the amount of work on my plate made it difficult for me to keep up with everything else, I
believed it was worthwhile because the more types of work I took on, the more skills I would acquire.
The experience was extremely draining, but when I left the organisation, I left with a variety of skill sets
that I would not have pursued otherwise.

Conclusion

Alderfer’s main argument critiquing Maslow’s theory is that he believed that a person can work on his or
her growth needs even if his or her existence or relatedness needs are unsatisfied. Consequentially, he
uses the dilemma of his example of the "starving artist," who he says can battle for perfection even if he is
hungry. While Maslow's theory is constrictive since it assumes that needs follow a hierarchy, and that
one cannot move on to the next need unless they satisfy the first one, ERG Theory of Motivation is very
flexible because he perceived needs as a range/variety rather than a hierarchy.
This was proved in the case example: even though I felt that my existential and relatedness needs were
not completely met, I continued to work hard and diligently because I felt that my growth needs were
being adequately met. I compromised on my relatedness needs because they took a back seat; since then,
I've felt it necessary to choose what was more important to me and felt more fulfilling to me.

According to Maslow, an individual remains at a certain level of need until that need is met. Meanwhile
ERG theory states that if a higher-level demand worsens, an individual may resort to increasing the
satisfaction of a lower-level need. This is referred to as the frustration-regression part of ERG theory.
For example, if a person's growth need worsens, he may be motivated to meet his relatedness needs, and
if he has difficulty meeting his relatedness needs, he may be motivated by his existence needs. As a result,
frustration/aggravation can lead to a relapse to a lower-level demand.
In my experience, this was also true. When certain situations felt difficult and unmanageable, I frequently
found myself convincing myself of the advantages of this work experience. I found myself making mental
tallies, pitting what felt 'worth the effort' against each other. When my existence needs suffered, I put
pressure on myself to meet my growth needs. It gave me a sense of comfort and peace to know that the
hassles I had to endure were worthwhile at the end of the day.

In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, individuals must be satisfied one level of needs before progressing to
the next one. They must, for example, have fulfilled their safety needs before being propelled by social
affiliation. Alderfer did not agree – he claimed that individuals need not have satisfied their existence
needs before being driven by their relatedness needs. Alderfer went on to say that different people may
prioritise their requirements in different orders based on their experiences.

Individuals in Maslow's hierarchy of needs remain at a fixed degree of need until it is met. This would
imply that individuals at work should strive to meet their present level of need and that managers and
supervisors should focus on assisting members of their teams in meeting one specific level of need at a
time.
However, Alderfer's ERG Theory of Motivation challenges this notion. Individuals can be driven by
multiple levels at the same time, according to Alderfer's approach, and their motivational priorities can
shift in response to their feeling of progress. Given this, people should not concentrate on one degree of
need at a time. Instead, they could want to balance their motivations at different levels.

Thus, Alderfer’s ERG Theory stood to be true in my experience in the internship.

xxx
References
 Robbins, S.P., Judge T.A. and Sanghi, S. (2009) Essentials of Organizational Behaviour,10th edition.
Pearson Education, India
 Alderfer, C. P. (1972). Existence, Relatedness, and Growth: Human Needs in Organizational
Settings. United Kingdom: Free Press.
 Jeanes, E. (2019). A Dictionary of Organizational Behaviour. United Kingdom: OUP Oxford.
 Sachs, D. H. (2020). ERG Theory, Maslow's Need Hierarchy, And How Alderfer's ERG Explanation Of
Motivations Differs From Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs. (n.p.): Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print
US.